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she comes home and tells me how dumb her 1st-grade classmates are and today she said "i am smarter than the kids at school and i don't want them to feel bad about themselves."
my daughter is precocious but no MENSA member or anything like that
this makes me wanna slap her. please advise.
BBM - When my daughter was 6, "dumb" was considered the "d" word in our house and still is. NO CHILD IS DUMB! What a way to totally ruin one's confidence and self esteem. A 6 yr old is still learning. While your daughter may be advanced academically, her classmates may be more advance in other skills. While one child can be more advanced, another child can be emmotionally more mature. First grade is so much more than who is smarter than the other.
If your daughter is coming home and telling you this, how is she talking to her classmates? Name calling such as dumb is mental abuse and your daughter needs to be taught this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rkb0305
where do you think she got this idea? Do you go overboard telling her how smart she is? Has it gone to her head? Maybe ask the teacher, or go observe the class for yourself and try to figure out what's going on.
She's 6. Just because she says she's smarter than the other kids it doesn't mean she's talking about being smarter academically. i.e. They're so stupid we had pizza for lunch and they chose salad, or they're so dumb everyone knows the swings are better than the slide or even her sneakers are stupid - they're not even Sketchers. I'd have her elaborate but it sounds like she needs an attitude adjustment.
True, true. However, the OP made it clear what her child meant by "smarter than the other kids" when she mentioned her child is "precocious" although not Mensa material. She means the child thinks she's "smarter" than them --- it has nothing to do with sneakers or colors or pizza or anything like that.
Of course kids (and adults) will call other people "dumb" or "stupid" for reasons that have nothing to do with academics but from the OPs post, I got the impression she meant smarter academically.
My niece is in first grade, and this is the second year she has been by far the smartest in her class. She knows it, but she doesn't tell people. Just tell her to make sure she doesn't say that around people because it's rude.
If your daughter is coming home and telling you this, how is she talking to her classmates? Name calling such as dumb is mental abuse and your daughter needs to be taught this.
Mental abuse? C'mon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lisalan
Tell her that if she actually tells her classmates that she is not going to be very popular. You need to stop this behaviour now before it gets out of control.
And being popular is a good thing for a 6 year old to be thinking about? That sets them up for a whole lot of disappointment as they grow older if being popular is so important in first grade.
Quote:
Originally Posted by just4kids
she comes home and tells me how dumb her 1st-grade classmates are and today she said "i am smarter than the kids at school and i don't want them to feel bad about themselves."
my daughter is precocious but no MENSA member or anything like that
this makes me wanna slap her. please advise.
My daughter has been homeschooled for most of her school years. She went part time to the local high school for arts and language last year and the year before. This year she wants to be homeschooled exclusively because she cannot tolerate the juvenile mentality of the students, and all the drama they bring to school.
In a lot of ways, she is far more mature than others her age and it makes it difficult for her to engage in high school student groups and participate in their nonsense.
Perhaps your daughter is finding she is more mature than the other 6 year olds around her, at least in some ways that are annoying to her.
I think it sounds like a pretty normal observation of a spunky six-year-old, and I'd probably have to hold back laughter (seriously, it is funny). Then I'd advise her that there are things that we say *on the inside* and that is one of them. It's not likely she's saying the same thing at school. Most kids act differently in their different spaces (home/school).
I'd give her a hug and tell you that you love her.
The real problems start when the parents insist that their little darling is gifted and want them in college by the time they are 8.
Well I think she could be. Wouldn't hurt to check it out. That's why they have advanced gifted classes - because those kids really do exist.
When the mom described how the child was describing her classmates, I don't know about anyone else, but my initial reaction was "maybe she's mentally understimulated." Kids that age tell it like it is, hence the bluntness in calling her classmates "dumb." And it sounds like maybe she could be getting bored and irritated in class.
It's a possibility worth check out, that's all. Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. It's not necessarily a badge of arrogance or obnoxiousness on either the kids or parents' part for a kid to be in a gifted class.
where do you think she got this idea? Do you go overboard telling her how smart she is? Has it gone to her head? Maybe ask the teacher, or go observe the class for yourself and try to figure out what's going on.
That's a good point worth bringing up, honestly. Maybe Mom needs to question whether or not she's unintentionally brought some of this on. It's odd for a kid that age to notice or care how her classmates are doing academically. At that age, I wouldn't have had the foggiest clue.
On the other hand though, some people just have naturally competitive streaks in them, which sometimes that start at an early age.
As far as the gifted thing again, I disagree with a previous poster, not everyone would want a gifted child. I wouldn't. I would find it a hassle and a great dilemma if I were faced with making the choice of putting them ahead a grade or something like that.
But it's an option worth checking out.... if anything, to simply rule it out.
True, true. However, the OP made it clear what her child meant by "smarter than the other kids" when she mentioned her child is "precocious" although not Mensa material. She means the child thinks she's "smarter" than them --- it has nothing to do with sneakers or colors or pizza or anything like that.
Of course kids (and adults) will call other people "dumb" or "stupid" for reasons that have nothing to do with academics but from the OPs post, I got the impression she meant smarter academically.
That's just the mother's initial interpretation. I still think she needs to discuss this further. At 6 kids can't really gage how their peers are doing academically. I think it's more social commentary.
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And it sounds like maybe she could be getting bored and irritated in class. 
